General Grande Punto 1.4 2009 engine rumour on 1500 RPM

Currently reading:
General Grande Punto 1.4 2009 engine rumour on 1500 RPM

Thank you guys,I will check...the strange thing is that I hear the rumour only when the engine it's hot like 90...on cold one I don't hear nothing
Visual check costs nothing, just do it (VVT solenoid, phonic wheel, pop the timing belt top cover, inspect area too - if clean, dry).
Run the engine without the belt cover, see how the belt is running.
https://cdn.fiatforum.com/data/video/439/439346-a025b6081104d69571f93b280b66bc3f.mp4

Anyway. The recording you've posted sounds more like a bearing and/or belt train noise. When it's too tight (or one part is worn)
Might be a bearing as OP says it develops when hot which would be when the belt is tightest, except that this engine should have an automatic spring loaded tensioner which keeps belt tension pretty constant? Belt guards need to come off and observations made with engine running - watch your fingers though won't you!
 
The tool is this one
Ok. good tool but only picks up transmitted noises. It should allow you to very easily isolate were something like a noisy bearing is but won't really help you at all isolating the "siren" noise made by the belt meshing with the pulley teeth. You need a length of tubing for that - stiffer tubing is best as you can easily direct the end to where you want it. I use nylon tubing of about the bore used in fuel lines (which is actually what mine originally was!
 
The belt seems fine...I'm waiting for the temperature to reach 90 to se if I can hear the noise
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20250406_153349206.mp4
    19.7 MB
  • PXL_20250406_153421530.jpg
    PXL_20250406_153421530.jpg
    3.1 MB · Views: 4
In general this is a normal sound signature of these units (modern Fire 8V with VVT), especially idle...
Not exactly smooth (mostly due to 700 RPM idle - no Fire engine had that low idle in the past, they struggle to operate that low and gentle).
But, a little bit too harsh and unstable in your case (too much changes/yanking/swing of pitch, texture, plus it's more or less random).
Sounds like a fresh timing belt job (not "6 months ago", but yesterday) = timing train "too tight". If you remove the phonic wheel, you can also drop the bottom cover and confirm the tensioner (if the "forks" are aligned). Fresh belt should not run on the edge of the VVT wheel (outer nor inner, but somewhat in the middle), check that too (your picture doesn't show that, redo it from another, proper angle). How the belt runs, depends on the water pump and tensioner condition (bearings "play"), how the water pump was "seated" (flush/evenly on the block or crooked), then tension.

It can sound bad on the microphone only (while listening live, it's not so bad most of the time, act of recording makes it "worse").
If it bothers you, you can hear it from the cabin, then yes, investigate, look around, poke it with a stick. Otherwise leave it as it is.
Nothing to "fix" there probably.
 
Last edited:
Fresh belt should not run on the edge of the VVT wheel (outer nor inner, but somewhat in the middle), check that too (your picture doesn't show that, redo it from another, proper angle). How the belt runs, depends on the water pump and tensioner condition (bearings "play"), how the water pump was "seated" (flush/evenly on the block or crooked), then tension.

It can sound bad on the microphone only (while listening live, it's not so bad most of the time, act of recording makes it "worse").
If it bothers you, you can hear it from the cabin, then yes, investigate, look around. Otherwise leave it as it is.
Nothing to "fix" there probably.
Mostly I've done belts on FIRE engines with the solid camshaft pulley but I've done a couple with the VVT pulley and both ran with the belt nearer the head - like the one pictured here. The first one I did was on my boy's 1.4 8 valve 2012 Punto (the model after the evo) and it worried me a great deal that it wasn't centred on the pulley. What was even more annoying was that I couldn't remember how the old belt sat before I stripped it off. It's the shoulder flanges on the water pump which control where the belt runs. I don't believe the tensioner bearing has any effect in this respect as it has no flanges? Of course I thought it was the water pump at fault, but it looked and measured up identical to the one I removed. The engine ran well without any strange noises and he needed the car to get to work so I let him take it. Next day I asked at the wee FIAT specialist garage near me and he said "they're all like that" I think he meant engines with the VVT pulley? It's not that they run over the edge of the inner side of the pulley, the pulley is a little wider than the belt and you can just see a wee bit of the outer edge. Anyway, some time later, when I did another, it was the same and neither engine has had any problems. They don't even make the slight noise our Panda does which so annoys me!

Absolutely agree with you about the sound being distorted by microphone. Makes helping diagnose noises like this without actually being there, very difficult.
 
Back
Top